How to Create a Hyper doc Digital Learning Experience

With all the technology available to us today, it becomes a challenge to organize it, direct our students to it, all while keeping them on task. Packaging a lesson or project into a Google hyperdoc, Google slides, or using a Learning Management system like Schoology or Google Classrooms is the beginning of a digital learning experience.

A Digital Learning Experience is a set of digital activities that integrate conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application or a challenge to engage students in productive struggle.

Let’s look at the process of building a Hyperdoc Digital Learning Experience to challenge 4th – 6th grade students to think about fractions.

Click in the merged cells then draw the image from the activities in your first cell to get attention.

Begin to draw the number line, then the fractions. Draw the first fraction, by drawing a square. Make it transparent. Then the fraction line. Copy the square and paste it.

Once you have created the first fractions. Draw a box around it by left clicking and drag the box around it. Then Copy and paste.

Add the directions. Draw a box, fill it, then paste in the directions. If the directions have a background color, go to more and change the highlight.

Add the opportunity for the reflection. Draw a box and ask students to reflect. See the download version of the worksheet.

When the drawing is complete Save and close.

Add directions to get students Hooked. Or an image… etc.

Find digital material for scaffolding and building conceptual understanding. Resources include Khan, digital textbooks, Learn Zillion etc. Paste the hyperlink to each and a description.

Look for practice problems to practice the procedural fluency that is required to solve the problem. This could be digital practice, an assigned worksheet, etc. If this has already happened in class then skip this step.

Find an interactive opportunity for students to explore and receive instant feedback as they practice the concepts. Resources include http://illuminations.nctm.org/ These free resources are not easy to find. Your school might have a school wide program where you can find specific content.

Add Questions to your Hyperdoc that would indicate your student has reviewed the material or has already mastered the skill required. (*optional: add collaboration*) And add the column for students to indicate they have completed the row.

Begin adding some images to gain attention. Find these on the web my searching for images. Even if you are using this solely for your class, it is good practice to follow the usage rights. However, if you are using it for any other purpose, it is expected.

Provide the opportunity for students to self check their answers.

Provide an example in the DLE or in class.

Last copy the original challenge problem into multiple merged cells for students to complete.

Paste the image.

Format the Color of the rows to add some creativity. Highlight the row or rows. Right click to open the dialog window. Then click table properties.

Change the cell background.

Provide Instructions in the doc for turning it in or as you assign it.

We have all heard that statement. It applies to so many areas of our lives, retirement, careers, marriage, school, grocery shopping. Who has gone to the store without knowing what you are planning to cook for the week, only to make several more trips each day to get another ingredient.

Beginning with the end in mind is an essential part of education. Regardless of how students are being educated, the best results occur when there is a plan in mind. One instructional design method, first introduced by Grant Wiggins and Jay Mc Tighe (Understanding Design) suggest the best curriculum designs begin with the desired outcomes or standards. Next a designer would determine assessments that would demonstrate mastery of the outcome. Once the assessments have been determines, activities and instructional strategies can be orchestrated that would help the learner construct and organize information in order to successfully complete the assessment.

Any teacher knows that it is easy to just open the curriculum and follow the path that the author has developed. Perhaps the author has implemented the backwards design principle, and the path can be gingerly followed. However, when looking to personalize and differentiate instruction it is important to consider the goals and learning objectives for each student. This is not to say, ignore the given curriculum, but rather use the curriculum as the activities or assessments to reach the desired outcomes and supplement with other resources to achieve the outcomes.

When beginning to plan a course of study, first begin with a goal. A goal is a single sentence that describes the overarching purpose of the course.

2009 Flicr Created by Doug

For example, the goal of a course might be: The participants in the course will develop and deliver quality virtual blended courses for students of Innovative Education Management Schools. Learning outcomes are still broad, and generally there will be 6 to 10 for a semester course. One learning outcome for this course is a blend of multiple iNocal Online teaching standards: Participants will design an organized course with clear expectations, goals, objectives, outcomes and use data to modify virtual synchronous instruction to meet the diverse needs of students. One key component for writing a learning objective is the verb. The verb should convey exactly what the learner should be able to accomplish as an indication they have mastered the content to be delivered. The verbs should be active and explicit. Larry Ferlazzo wrote an article and uses a Bloom’s taxonomy image with appropriate verbs, that will help any provider of instruction to focus on learning outcomes and objects that promote higher

As many students and families are taking advantage of Kindle Unlimited subscriptions for pleasure reading, the Kindle App can also be used to develop close reading skills. Close reading is more than just annotating or highlighting a text. Close reading is active learning. Many kinesthetic learners struggle with reading because they are not involved in the reading. These learners thrive with printed texted where they have the freedom to doodle, circle, underline and highlight. However, as we move to digital age and paperless learning, where does that leave these students?

To assist these students and all students, let’s take a look at a few solutions for digital close reading. Blog writer, Dave Stuart, Jr. addresses the need for purposeful annotations. Students should have a reason for annotating their reading. As they read, the goal is for them to be learning from the reading during the process, asking questions, such as “what else was happening during this period in History?” or “What does action say about the person’s character?’ Perhaps students do not understand a word or phrase, or wonder why the author included a specific detail. Furthermore, as students are reading a text, they should know what is expected after the reading. Will they be analyzing the character, comparing a written piece to a multimedia presentation? Is the purpose to find connections between two historical accounts or compare a historical event to a current event?

Given a purpose for reading, students will engage more effectively. By using active reading strategies, students are writing down their ideas, questions and thoughts. According to research in the science of learning by Richard Mayer, it is important to limit cognitive load. Which means that the brain can only focus on a limited concepts at a time. By annotating during the reading process, their minds are free to think about the next part of the text. When students have completed the reading, they should have a few thoughts from each page to guide their thinking, reflection, or response to the reading, These notes do not need to be lengthy, just enough to spark their memory.